A £19.3 million plan to solve the town's traffic 'blight' through the construction of a 'much-needed' bridge across the Mersey has edged closer.

Maro Developments Ltd has submitted a planning application for the demolition of the DriveTime golf range and Spectra Park industrial estate, as well as excavation, segregation and processing of material on the land, off Slutchers Lane.

Proposals are linked to what should be the first of two new bridges for the town.

Planning permission would pave the way for key phases of the £19.3 million Centre Park link scheme and turn the land into a 'development platform'.

Part of the ambitious plan is the construction of a crossing over the Mersey to connect Chester Road to the town centre via Slutchers Lane – it could be completed by 2018.

Despite the application, which was registered on January 11, documents confirmed some of the work at the site started on November 28.

Warrington South MP David Mowat welcomed the application.

He said: "I hope that this planning application will go through as swiftly as possible so that we can get on with building this much-needed piece of infrastructure."

A council spokesman confirmed the authority is 'working closely' with Maro Developments.

He added: "We are unable to put forward any more firm dates for completion of work on this project as there are several stages of the process that have inexact timescales."

Council leader Cllr Terry O'Neill is confident the project will ease the borough's traffic woes, in particular around Bridge Foot and Chester Road.

He said: "It will help relieve the congestion issues we are facing – we need to get rid of this blight of traffic jams and congestion."

An ecology report confirmed a reptile survey was carried out on the land around Slutchers Lane.

It said: "No reptile species were recorded during these site visits, concluding the likely absence of reptiles within the site area.

"As such, it is not considered that the development proposals will impact upon the conservation status of reptile species in the UK.

"In the unlikely event that a reptile is discovered on site during the development, works should cease immediately and Natural England, or an experienced ecologist, should be contacted immediately to determine a way forward."

The second bridge, which will cross the Manchester Ship Canal, could be built by 2023.

The application expires on April 11.